College Students

I started college this semester and yes I am almost 66. I have had to almost retire for health reasons and have always wanted to go to college. What surprises me is the majority of young people I have met, don't apply themselves in their classes. I didn't have a chance for college when I was young and I don't understand these kids. I am no where near brilliant and I am setting the curve in 3 of my 4 classes. I just hope that some of them wake up and try to learn. Any other old timers here in class?

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College Students

I went to college about 20 years ago. I didn't apply myself as much as I should have and I didn't really see the need to at the time.
A few years after I graduated I applied for a government job that required a visit with a psychologist. The shrink asked me to list a few regrets from my life and I said I wished I had tried harder in school. He laughed and said that almost every person he interviews says the same thing.

I think it takes some experience in the real world to really appreciate some of those tremendous opportunities that a college education can provide. It's hard to take learning seriously when you're 19 and you think you already know everything you need to know.

College Students

Tell me about it. It was that way back in 1989, when I went to school after I got out of the Navy. Even those that were the same age as I was, did not have the motivation.

I even dealt with it at the State of Illinois, before I retired on the 20th of Feb., due to my health problems (Cervical fusion did not take, three bulging discs in Lower Lumbar).

Tonight I was looking at the Cisco courses for Network Security, that four of our local schools that offer them. I am going to have to do something, other then be a Night Owl and/or stay up drinking Micro Brews all night until 3 in the morning.

Even if I am just doing something to be busy. It would get me out of the house for a couple of hours, to be around others. I just do not want to do the online courses. Too hard to do math homework in a Word Processing program. Also you do not get the one one one, like you can at the physical school.

College Students

Quote:

Originally Posted by dftc

I went to college about 20 years ago. I didn't apply myself as much as I should have and I didn't really see the need to at the time.
A few years after I graduated I applied for a government job that required a visit with a psychologist. The shrink asked me to list a few regrets from my life and I said I wished I had tried harder in school. He laughed and said that almost every person he interviews says the same thing.

I think it takes some experience in the real world to really appreciate some of those tremendous opportunities that a college education can provide. It's hard to take learning seriously when you're 19 and you think you already know everything you need to know.

You talking about the shrink, just reminded me why I dreaded going into work every day. I dealt with entering Pharmacy Scripts that were faxed into the office that I worked at, for the State of Illinois.

Pretty much most of them for Anti-Psychotics. The check list on them, fit the majority of us working in the office, due to how it was ran.

I moved up actually pretty fast in the ranks in eight years, with half of my Bachelor's Degree. I just wish that I could get past the Algebra part, so that I can finish it, and have something to hang on the wall with my Navy awards, and past President's Honor Roll Certificate, when I was working on my degree in 2003.

College Students

Quote:

Originally Posted by dftc

It's hard to take learning seriously when you're 19 and you think you already know everything you need to know.

I think this might be a big part of it. I did my undergrad in '98-'02. My first two years my focus was high on drinking and doing the minimum I could do to get by (which was a bit of a change, coming from high-school honors and nearly straight-A's). By my junior/senior year of college I was actually in "real" classes and not the dumb general stuff they make you take, and had decided to become serious and actually won a department scholarship. I thank the program I was in (Geography/Geology) for getting me out into the real world and seeing the real work environment (mining and drilling mostly). I was a teaching assistant and found school was easy when you made it the focus (what a novel idea!).

I went back to grad-school for an MBA degree '09-'12. Graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 4.0. Again, when school was put as a priority, it was not that difficult - though doing it with a wife and twins born in 2011 was difficult to prioritize. Like has been observed in this thread, however, the amount of apathy exhibited by the younger students was a little shocking. Especially at an expensive private school compared to the state university where I did my undergrad. There it was almost expected you were going to slack off and party. I guess 19 is 19 wherever you go though.

College Students

Good for you Rusty. I never regretted going back to get my 2 year degree. I waited 8 years after highschool to go to college. Fortunately for me the company I currently work for paid the whole boat on that. I was only in my mid 20's at the time but could see the difference the 8 years made as far as focus. I now have a 20 year old daughter with a 3.9 GPA as a chemistry major. She can not believe how many classmates of hers don't have a clue as to what they want to do. She has one friend who was going to get her teaching degree to teach English. Spent 4 years to get a bachelor degree and still needs to get her masters to teach. She now has decided that she does not want to be a teacher and instead wants to be a writer. OK, so my daughter asks her...A writer for what, a newspaper???? No, she wants to write stories, etc. My daughter looked at her and said, That's not a profession, that's a hobby.